Customer Reviews

Yes: The Directors Cut

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are two complete yesshows in this 2dvd set. Both concerts were taken from Yes' 2003 European tour. The first of the two shows was recorded in Birmingham UK and is mixed with mini interviews of the band and the second is an outdoor show from the Glastonbury Festival. Excellent concerts of progressive rock from the classic lineup of Yes - Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White & Rick Wakeman. If you like Yes you'll love these dvds.

The Setlist:

01) Siberian Khatru
02) Magnification
03) Don't Kill The Whale
04) In The Presence Of
05) We Have Heaven
06) South Side Of The Sky
07) And You And I
08) To Be Over
09) Clap
10) Show Me
11) Wakeman Solo
12) Heart Of The Sunrise
13) Long Distance Runaround
14) The Fish
15) Awaken
16) I've Seen All Good People
17) Roundabout

First of all, let it be known: Steve Howe is ON FIRE here. He deftly moves from one guitar to the next and nails his famous solos (nearly) flawlessly, all while attending to the audience and genuinely appearing to enjoy himself.

Other positives from this DVD:
Great performances - these guys may be starting to look their age, but they still rock hard in their inimitable Yes style.
Some different songs that you don't typically hear, and almost all are different ones than appeared on their "Songs From Tsongas" dvd from the same 35th anniversary tour.
Interesting stories, backstage footage and snippets of info from the individual band members between the songs.
Disc 2 begins with the best version of "Awaken" I've ever seen or heard. It is special.
Great camera work and professionally done - we get close-ups of the performers from all different angles, and just enough of the audience to make you feel like you have a seat at the show.
Rick Wakeman's bank of keyboards has gotten even bigger... (Is that possible?)

A few negatives:
Audio was slightly out-of-sync in some spots, especially on disc 1. That's an annoyance.
Drums were mixed very low at the start of the first concert.
Sometimes the volume seems to dampen or compress a bit in spots.

The second disc contains the final 3 songs from the indoor show featured on the first disc, then segues into an outdoor show that has virtually the same song lineup in the exact same order. I enjoyed this show all the same, as I've never seen them perform outdoors before. For that show, the camera angles are much more limited, there are a few distractions on stage with roadies moving and checking equipment, and there is some unknown (pretty) woman sitting behind Steve Howe and enjoying the music - another distraction for some of us... (The annoying audience member who insisted on waving his Pink Floyd flag through parts of the show was also a slight negative.)

But overall, you get great performances, excellent sound in most places (but certainly not perfect), and just an enjoyable couple of shows for the Yes fan. (...and aren't we all? ;-)

This is "thee" group.

Sure I like the glossed DVD's that are out now with little or no imperfections, everything cleaned up, or dubbed over, or added to, for that better than "real" life DVD experience....Who doesn't.

This is not a bad recording by any any means. This is a great recording. This is exactly how they would sound if you went to see them live....and that ain't bad. The 35th Anniversary Tour was too slick (but great!) Live at Montreux was "Perfect". This is..."Real" A must add to the YES collection. This is in the spirit of "Yessongs", the record....not the video, but a better recording.

What more do you want! How many DVD's of this line up are there.

Loved it! The fact that in their 60's these guys can still pull off tunes like "Long Distance Runaround", "Heart of the Sunrise" and "Roundabout" proves that this is and always will be a very special band. Sure Jon Anderson struggled with a couple notes (on "Don't Kill the Whale" which is a hard song to sing in your 20's for crying out loud) and Steve Howe just isn't as lighting fast up and down the neck of those vintage guitars as he used to be but watching Rick Wakeman's magic on the keyboards and the ever steady, ever ready Alan White on drums more than makes up for a few bumps in the over all performance. My favorite was "We Have Heaven" which I have never seen them do live before and I have seen them in concert numerous times. Good show mates!

Good value for money (2 DVDs set), however, the sound appears to be not the best. Good performances anyway, although, Jon seems to strugle a little bit in some parts. I would have preferred the full concert without interruptions(DVD 1) but I guess there was a reason for it(?).

Personally, Song from Tsongas is one of the best DVD sets, they played songs from many of their albums.

If you are a Yes fan(As I am), buy this for your collection.

Obviously unrepaired audio for a change. Live shows that sound as good as studio recordings are great but its nice to hear actual performances even if a show full of old material is difficult for either the band or a lot of fans to get real excited about. Seeing them at Glastonbury is weird since the typical Yes crowd is an older crowd that sits instead of this younger crowd that stands. It makes for a different show dynamic. A standing crowd usually expects 90 solid minutes of rocknroll and then there's the fact that a large portion of a festival crowd came to see other performers. The one thing I could have done without was the 30 minutes of interviews taken from the Yesspeak DVD of 03 and interspersed at the beginning of each track of the Birmingham show. The set is identical to the Montreux show from the same tour.

Haven't seen this yet but thought I'd help out everyone with a track list:

Region 0
2-Disc Set-Keep Case
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound - English

Tracks:


1. Siberian Khatru
2. Magnification
3. Don't Kill The Whale
4. In The Presence Of
5. We Have Heaven
6. South Side Of The Sky
7. And You And I
8. To Be Over/Clap
9. Show Me
10. Rick Wakeman Solo
11. Heart Of The Sunrise
12. Long Distance Runaround
13. The Fish
14. Awaken
15. I've Seen All Good People
16. Roundabout

This is per cduniverse.

I love the double shows. but I dont know if its just me or if its the same on an actual dvd player. sound seemed to be unlevel.. volume raising n lowering throughout. (and unfortunatly disc 2 arrived undocked so it was scratched and messed up durring awaken #2. other than that its a great buy to add to the collection. I'd like to see drama on dvd or this 2008/2009 tour. I hate when rick n jon arent in the group but still would like access to the shows to experiance their stand-in's. (one as a memory review and one cuz I cant get to it!) how about it guys???? I'll buy them!